Vehicle wheel



Spm 6, 1949. c. s. AsH- 4819137 VEHICLE WHEEL Filed May 19. 1945 A sshams-sheet 1 BY 1MM. MLM.

ATTORNEY Sp.. 6, w49. c.s. ASH 43h13? VEHICLE WHEEL Filed May 19, 1945 ssheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR Chen-ks A @sk am. swam HTTORNEY 4g 59 BY Sept.6, 1949. c. s. ASH 48u87 EEEEEEEEEEE L Patented Sept. 6, n1949 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE VEHICLE WHEEL Charles S. Ash, Milford, Mich.

Appllcltion May 19, 1945, Serial No; '594,758

6 Claims. l

The present invention relates to vehicle wheels and `more particularlytoa Wheel adapted to demountably carry a plurality of road engagingtires. I

Objects and advantages ci the invention will be set forth par-thereinafter and in .part will be obvious hereirom, or may be learned bypractice `with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities :and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements,combinations, .and improvements herein shown land described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate 'one Sembodinient of the invention, and together thedescription, serve to explain the principles of 'the invention.

Of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation viewed inwardly of `1a vehicle Wheelembodying 'the present invention certain parte being broken away for`greater clarity;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken 'along line '2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevational View of 'the vehicle wheel shown in Fig. llooking outwardly taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 certain parts beingbroken away; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the outer periphery of a modifiedembodiment of the wheel of the present invention.

It is an object of the Apresent invention to provide an improved vehiclewheel for demountably VAmounting a plurality of road engaging elementsas, for instance, a pair of conventional pneumatic tires. Another objectis the provision of such a wheel that is of relatively simpleconstruction so as to be economical to fabricate, but ls strong enoughto be of outstanding value for heavy duty work. The invention furtherprovides a strong, light weight vehicle wheel of the type fabricatedessentially of a hub and a pair of wheel carrying 'members extendingradially oitward-ly from the hub which is cheaper and stronger 'thanother wheelsof the particular type.

With the stated and other objects in view there is provided in anillustra-tive 'embodiment of lthe invention as herein shown anddescribed a subn stantially cylindrical hub to be 'rotatably mounted onthe end of a vehicle axle, and a pair of `web members secured. at theirinner peripheres to the hub in axially spaced apart relationship. Theinwardly positioned web member is axially outwardly curved through itsradial `width nearer the hub, and radially outwardly is .reverselycurved to provide a scalloped bead for web strength and to :provide aseat for a portion of the outer web. At its outer periphery the webmember is abruptly inwardly curved to provide an integral annularinclined seat on which a tire rim of conventional type may be mounted.

lThe outer web member of the wheel terminates at its outer periphery inintegral outwardly radially extending spoke portions. The web memberdirectly radially beneath the spoke portions extends substantially in aplane perpendicular to Vthe axis ofthe hub, with a slight outer axialcurve at the bases of the spoke portions, so that the ends of the spoke:portions are substantially axially spaced from the annular outerperiphery or" the inner vweb member. Plates are secured lover the endsof the spoke Vportions and extend axially inwardly to the inner webmember, providing seats for a tire rim for an outer tire of the ydualassembly.

Between the spoke portions the outer web member is smoothly curved toform a scalloped periphery, and is axially inwardly curved at asubstantial angle so that the curved periphery may lap and be Ysecuredto the scalloped bead of the inner web member. Spaced ellipticalapertures may be provided in the inner web portion at `places betweenthose parts of the web which face spokes of the outer web member, inorder to lighten the structure.

It will Vbe understood that the foregoing general description an-d thefollowing detailed description as Well are exemplary and explanatory ofthe invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now in Adetail to the illustrative enibodiments of theinvention shown in the accompanying drawings, and referring`particularly to Fig. 2, the vehicle wheel is shown as mounted on thereduced 'end or spindle Il) of a conventional trailing type vehicle.axle ll. The Wheel `comprises an elongated hub member I2 mounted forfree rotation on axle end lll by means of roller bearings 'I3 and I4.The bearing and hub assembly is maintained in position by means of nutl5 and washer l5, as will be fully apparent to those skilled in the art.

Toward 'the inner end of the hub member l2 there is provided anoutwardly radially extending integral flange portion 2li havingthickened peripheral Iextensions 21 to which maybe secured a .brake drum22 of any suitable type, for the wheel, being secured to the ilange bymeans of bolts 23 and nuts 24.

The Adual tire mounting means of the wheel Radially outwardly of thecylindrical portion 28 the inner web member 26 is outwardly radiallycurved in its portion designated 3B in the drawings, and the annularcurve between the portions 23 and 35 seats against a cooperating- ,q

ly curved surface of the hub at the base of its flange portion 28. theweb member terminates in a reversely curved bead 3l, and, as may be seenin Fig. l, this bead is of a scalloped form, extending in smooth curvesnearer to and further from the periphery of the web member. 1 f

At the periphery of the inner web member 26 there are provided aplurality of spaced apart plane portions 32 having apertures to receiverim mounting bolts as hereinafter described, and these portions arepositioned between adjacent curved lengths of bead 3l. abruptly inwardlyaxially turned at its outer periphery to provide a substantiallycylindrical surface upon which a tire rim 33 may be seated. rlhe surfacemay be outwardly flared toward its inner end to provide an inclined seat34 for cooperation with an edge bead 35 of rim 33, this being aconventional form of pneumatic tire supporting rim. As shown, ellipticalapertures designated by numeral 36 are provided between the planeportions 32 of web member 23, the apertures having as their lower edgethe scalloped bead 3l and as their upper edge the annular rim supportingsurface of the web. The provision of such apertures lightens the wheeland still allows a strong integral construction between the ,peripheralinner rim supporting portion of the wheel and the central body portionof the web member. The outer web member 21 of the wheel for mounting aduplicate of tire rim 33 comprises an outwardly axially turnedcylindrical portion 4i! at its inner periphery which is preferablyformed as a press nt with hub l2 ,and is seated thereupon. A circularlap weld 4l secures .web member 2l to the hub in spaced apartrelationship to the inner periphery of the other web member 25. At itsouter periphery outer web member 2l terminates in a plurality ofoutwardly radially extending integral spoke portions 43 and at theseportions the web extends in plane surfaces 44 which are substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of hub l2. Immediately radially beneath spokeportions 43 the web member curves axially inwardly somewhat and thenreversely through a long curve to the cylindrical portion 40, as may beseen in the lower half of Fig. 2. Between spoke portions 43 theperiphery of web member 2l is smoothly curved in scalloped segments andthe body of the web is axially inwardly curved at a substantial anglekfrom cylindrical portion I43 so that the scalloped edges 45 are broughtadjacent to and lap the scalloped bead 3l of inner web member 26, andthe web members are securely joined by curved lines of lap welding 45.

The spoke portions 43 of the outer web member 21 are strengthened byintegral webs l4'! at The web portion is The curved portion 33' of ,4either side of plane surfaces 44 which extend in a substantially axialdirection to the curved scalloped segments between the spoke portions. Aplate member 4B is positioned over the end of each spoke portion 43 andextends inwardly to plane portions 32 of the inner web member. Theplates are securely welded as at 50 along their edges to the ends ofspoke portions 43 and at their inner ends as at 5l to the inner webmember. The upper'surfaces of the plates provide seats for the outer rim52 which is preferably a duplicate of rim 33, having a turned edge orbead 53. The plates 48 also serve to securely join the spoke portionsv43 to the inner web member strengthening ,the entire wheel structure.In this function they are supplemented by mounting bolts 55 which passthroughv aperturesin plane portions 32 and 44 of the inner and outer webmembers respectively and carryfconventional lugs 5E and nuts 5l. Plates48 are slotted along their inner axial portion to accommodate the bolts55. An annular spacing ring 58 between rims 33 and 52 completes thedemountable mounting means for the rims upon the wheel.

In the'embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 4 Yof the drawings thevehicle wheel is adapted to carry tires of greater road engaging area,in which case it becomes desirable to provide a wider spacing betweenthe rims B0 and 6l. The spoke end plates 62 of this embodiment of theinventionare generally of the same configuration as those of thepreviously discussed embodiment, and similarly assembled, except thatthere is providedat their outer ends an inwardly radially turnedintegral portion 63. Portion 63 is curved as shownto seat against theplane portion of the spoke of the outer web member, to which it iswelded as at 66, and to provide an axially disposed end to abut thelower prong of the rim mounting lugs. The l-ugbolt 64 of this assemblywill be longer and the spacing ring 65 wider than those members in theembodiment of the invention already discussed.

Theinvention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificmechanisms shown and described but .departures may be made therefromwithin -the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from theprinciples of the invention and without sacrificing its chiefadvantages.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a hubmember, a pair ofweb members secured to said hub member in axially spaced apartrelationship, the axially inner of said 'web members being axiallyoutwardly curved and reversely curved in its body portion` between saidhub member and its-outer periphery to form a curved scalloped bead, saidinner web member terminating at its outer periphery in a substantiallycontinuous integral annular rim mounting surface, the axially outer webmember terminating at its outer periphery in integral outwardly radiallyextending spokes, the periphery of the axially outer web member beingradially curved between said spokes and axially inwardly curved to lapsaid scalloped bead and being secured thereto, andmeans on said spokesfor supporting a tire r1m.

2, A vehicle wheel comprising in combination, a hub member, a pair ofweb members secured to said hub member in axially spaced apartrelationship, the axially inner of said web members being axiallyoutwardly curved and reversely curved ints body portion between said hubmember and its outer periphery to form a curved scalloped bead, saidinner web member terminating at its outer periphery in a substantiallycontinuous integral annular rim mounting surface, said inner web havingapertures therethrough between said bead and said rim mounting surface,the axially outer web member terminating at its outer periphery inintegral outwardly rae dially extending spokes, the periphery of saidouter web member being radially curved between said spokes and axiallycurved to lap said scalloped bead and being secured thereto, and meanson said spokes for supporting a tire rim.

3. A vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a hub member, a pair ofweb members secured to said hub member in axially spaced apartrelationship, the axially inner of said web members having an integralannular substantially continuous tire rim mounting surface at its outerperiphery, the axially outer of said web members terminating at itsouter periphery in integral outwardly radially extending spokes, saidouter web member being axially inwardly curved between said spokes andsecured to said inner web member, and a plate secured to the end of eachspoke having a radially outer rim mounting surface, said platesextending axially to said inner web member and being secured thereto.

4. A vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a hub member, a pair ofweb members secured to said hub member in axially spaced apartrelationship, the axially inner of said web members having an integralannular substantially continuous tire rim mounting surface at its outerperiphery the axially outer of said web members terminating at its outerperiphery in integral outwardly radially extending spokes, said outerweb member being axially inwardly curved between said spokes and securedto said inner web member, and a plate secured to the end of each spokehaving a radially outer rim mounting surface, said plates extendingaxially to said inner web member and being secured thereto, each saidplate extending axially outwardly beyond said spokes and having aradially inwardly turned portion inwardly axially curved to contact itsrespective spoke and outwardly axially turned to provide a surface atits end substantially perpendicular to the axis of said hub member.

5. A vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a hub member, a pair ofweb members secured to said hub member in axially spaced apartrelationship, the axially inner of said web members terminating radiallyoutwardly in an integral, substantially continuous, axially extendingperipheral portion, said portion being formed with inclined rim mountingsurfaces, the axially outer of said web members terminating at its outerperiphery in integral outwardly radially extending spokes, said outerweb member being axially inwardly curved between said spokes and securedto said inner web member, and means on said spokes for supporting a tirerim.

6. A vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a hub member, a pair ofweb members secured to said hub member in axially spaced apartrelationship, the axially inner of said web members being axiallyoutwardly curved and reversely curved in its body portion between saidhub member and its outer periphery to form a curved scalloped bead, saidinner web member terminating radially outwardly in a substantiallycontinuous peripheral portion, said portion being formed with rimmounting surfaces, the axially outer web member terminating at its outerperiphery in integral outwardly radially extending spokes, the peripheryof the axially outer web member being radially curved between saidspokes and axially inwardly curved to lap said scalloped bead andsecured thereto, and means on said spokes for supporting a tire rim.

CHARLES" S. ASH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,491,560 Slick Apr. 22, 19241,984,048 Walther Dec. 11, 1934 2,002,290 Krieg May 2l, 1935 2,164,772Keller July 4, 1939 2406.068 Frank Aug. 20, 1946

